Stratford University officials announced Friday the memorial service scheduled in Falls Church next Monday for their recently murdered master’s candidate, Arun Kumar Narote, has been rescheduled for Monday, Aug. 9 at the request of the family.
Stratford University officials announced Friday the memorial service scheduled in Falls Church next Monday for their recently murdered master’s candidate, Arun Kumar Narote, has been rescheduled for Monday, Aug. 9 at the request of the family.
Narote was killed last Monday during a robbery in what representatives called an “act of senseless gun violence” at Norman’s Grocery and Deli in Bridgeport, Conn. despite offering no resistance and fully cooperating with his assailants’ demands. He worked there as a clerk.
“Arun was living here with friends and working in the small grocery store to earn money for school,” said Bridgeport police captain James Viadero, in a press release.
The Conneticut Post reported last Thursday that three suspects were arrested in the killing of Narote, though police are yet to release their identities. As of Thursday, all three suspects were being held on a $1 million bond with charges forthcoming, it went on to report.
A native of Hyderabad in South Central India, Narote earned his undergraduate degree from Indra Reddy Memorial Engineering College in Hyderabad. Narote was an M.S. candidate in the F.C. university’s software engineering department, which he commuted to weekly from his Conneticut residence.
Local ceremonies for staff, faculty and students will be held Aug. 9 from 1:30 to 2 p.m. on the fifth floor of Stratford’s main campus. The brief service will be hosted by Hindu Priest Amarnath from the Embassy of India.
The timing of the ceremony is significant, said Stratford University Vice President for International Programs, Feroze Khan, in a press release. In accordance with Hindu tradition, friends and family observe 13 days of mourning, and the ceremony will take on the 13th day following Narote’s death.
“This will truly be a sad day as we remember Arun, one of our most popular students here at Stratford,” said Dr. Richard R. Shurtz, President of Stratford University in a press release today. “Arun will certainly be missed by the entire school. Our thoughts are prayers go out to [his] family and friends.”
Last week, Shurtz was quoted calling Arun “one of our most popular students who epitomized the good nature of our student body.”
Stratford University’s main campus is located at 7777 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church.
